Mike D'Antoni addressed the media Thursday for the first time as Lakers coach. / Jayne Kamin-Oncea, US Presswire

by David Leon Moore, USA TODAY Sports

by David Leon Moore, USA TODAY Sports

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. - Mike D'Antoni took over the reins of the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday with a clear mandate but a muddled timetable.

The new Lakers coach knows he must win - now.

"This is not a project," D'Antoni said Thursday, acknowledging expectations of a Lakers' championship run. "We have a window, and we'll try to get through it."

However, D'Antoni is not physically sound enough to coach his new team's first game, and his offensive floor leader, Steve Nash, isn't healthy enough to take the court.

At his introductory news conference Thursday at the Lakers training facility, D'Antoni hobbled on a single crutch to a table with a microphone on it, sat and told a huge news media gathering that he would probably skip today's Lakers home game against the Phoenix Suns, his old team.

D'Antoni, still recovering from knee replacement surgery and by his own admission "heavily medicated," said he more than likely will make his debut on the Lakers bench in a home game Sunday against the Houston Rockets.

Nash, who ran D'Antoni's up-tempo offense to near-perfection in Phoenix but seemed lost in fired coach Mike Brown's version of the Princeton offense, is licking his chops to get well enough to run D'Antoni's system for the Lakers. But Nash still is recovering from a small break in his left leg. His return date is uncertain.

D'Antoni joked he might wait until Nash suits up before he coaches a game.

"I've tried coaching without Nash, and that didn't work out too well," he said.

D'Antoni, hired over the phone late Sunday night, finally held a practice with his new team Thursday and finally answered questions from the gang of news media that now will cover him.

Signed to a three-year, $12 million contract to the surprise and consternation of many Lakers fans who had initially been led by news media reports to believe the job was Phil Jackson's if he wanted it, D'Antoni called himself lucky, prepared, appreciative and "rarin' to go."

He called the Lakers talent "off the charts," called center Dwight Howard "unstoppable" and Kobe Bryant "the most competitive guy I've ever been around."

And, D'Antoni said, he is fully aware of the hot seat he just inherited, what with Lakers fans, who reveled in five NBA titles won during the two L.A. tenures of Jackson, chanting "We Want Phil" at home games after a 1-4 start got Brown fired.

"I feel great about the possibilities, and I'll do everything in my power to make it a good decision," D'Antoni said.

"I can understand all the stuff that went on. Phil was a great coach. He is a great coach. He'll always be a great coach."